Boulder coaches say altitude, fatigue also may be challenging

By Cory Lamz Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
08/24/2012 10:46:44 PM MDT

Updated:
08/24/2012 11:12:35 PM MDT

USA Pro Cycling Challenge competitors may have no choice but to slow down considerably during the sixth stage of the race in Boulder once they hit Flagstaff Mountain, experienced local cyclists said, noting the steep grade.

"The grade is really hard at the beginning. That's where you need to hold back for a little bit," said Frank Overton, owner of the FasCat Coaching company and a coach for the University of Colorado cycling team. "For some cyclists, just getting up this thing will take them all they've got."

Stage 6 begins in Golden on Saturday morning. Competitors will circle twice around downtown Golden before heading toward Boulder's Pearl Street Mall. From there, they will make a 15-mile climb through Boulder Canyon to Nederland, ride along the Peak to Peak Highway, then down to Lyons.

Upon reaching Lyons, the competitors will journey through Left Hand Canyon and Lee Hill Road before to downtown Boulder. After riding through University Hill, they will make a 3.5 mile climb up Flagstaff Mountain to Sunrise Amphitheater.

Competitors also may face difficulties caused by fatigue or the altitude difference between their training grounds and Boulder.

"Your ride efforts are a little different between altitude and sea level," said Colby Pearce, another cycling coach in Boulder. "You can go 99 to 100 percent at sea level multiple times and recover. Here, you can go to 96 percent repeatedly, but you can't go to 100 percent more than one time. If you use (all of your energy) at the wrong time, you may have difficulties and will have a hard time recovering from that."

Pearce also suggested that competitors wait to "go deep" until later in the race, even if that means letting other competitors pass by early in the Flagstaff climb.

On top of fatigue, the steep grade and the difference in altitude, competitors also may struggle with not receiving proper nutrition and hydration.

"On the bike, off the bike, 24 hours a day -- keep your electrolyte levels up," Pearce said. "It's so much easier to become dehydrated because the climate in Boulder is more arid."

Frank Overton, front left, and Jeff Winkler lead the FasCat Coaching team past Panorama Point on Flagstaff Mountain on during a ride Thursday to get a feel for the finale of Stage 6 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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To stay hydrated, Pearce recommended that competitors consume the line of hydration products from Skratch Labs, a Boulder-based company that manufactures food and drink performance products.

Overall, however, the race will all come down to pacing, the experienced cyclists said.

"Hold back at the beginning -- you don't do the Bolder Boulder doing the first mile your fastest. You make the whole race equal, and that's what you have to do with the Flagstaff climb," Overton said. "To a certain degree, when you're racing in a pack, some strategy is dictated by your own goals and work you can handle, (but) if the pace is really flat out, throw everything out the window."

Overton predicts that competitors will begin to break away from the pack at Gregory Canyon.

"On Gregory Canyon, that's where they'll launch their attacks," he said. "Once the road shallows out for Flagstaff House, they'll need to draft."

Drafting is a technique in which cyclists follow closely and immediately behind another competitor, to save energy by facing less resistance.

"Drafting allows you to use 30 percent less energy than the person in front of you. It also helps with pacing," Overton said. "It's a Cycling 101 strategy: stay on the rider's wheel."

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